Privileges of Citizenship
Dearly beloved of God, we are citizens of heaven, and we are of God’s household. We have all the privileges of our citizenship.
Philippians 3:20 and 21
For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to save us he will transform our mortal, corruptible bodies so that they are like his glorious body. This is one of our privileges of citizenship.
We are the citizens of the heavenly realm; the kingdom of God's beloved Son. What a privilege! Christ provided the entrance into the kingdom of God through his accomplishments.
In Christ, we are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. We are spirit born citizens of the heavenly realm. We are citizens of the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
In Christ, God our Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. No citizen has any less than any other citizen. We are complete in Christ who is the head over all principality and power. We are members of his body; filled with all in all of us. Thank God for the privileges of citizenship that are ours in Christ.
Romans 8: 29
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
In the kingdom of His beloved Son, God determined beforehand that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. Only God could have determined such a magnificent reality as this for the citizens of His kingdom.
We are joint-citizens, and joint-partakers of the same body [the body of Christ,] and joint-partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. Our Father has gone to extraordinary lengths to bless us in Christ with the privileges of our citizenship, dearly beloved of God.
II Thessalonians 2:14
Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How could a child of God think that they are not dearly beloved and highly favored by their Father? If He planned such a glorious hope for us in Christ, how could He possibly love us any less today?
God our Father is with us and for us. He is present and accessible. He hears our prayers and promises to answer them. He is our sufficiency in all things, all of the time. Nothing can separate us from His love for us.
Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Ephesians 2:7
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
That’s a long time, isn’t it, but it will take Him the entire period to show us these exceeding riches of His grace when we appear in glory with him. He will display these riches to us in Christ Jesus with His loving kindness and His tender mercies.
Set your affection on things above dearly beloved; the Lord Jesus Christ is coming to save us! We entered the kingdom of God the moment we were born again of the spirit from God.
Now we are the citizens of heaven, and we have all the rights and privileges of that citizenship. We have access to the Father by the spirit we received in the new birth. When Christ returns to gather us together we will physically enter the kingdom where we are citizens. We have it all!
Dearly beloved of God, you are a citizen of heaven, and you have all the privileges of that citizenship! Rejoice; it is only a matter of time before God sends His Son to gather us up to meet him in the air, and we physically enter our true homeland.
Thank God for all of the privileges of our citizenship. We are His dearly beloved and highly favored children.